A football free weekend for Gooners, meaning with the international break, no Arsenal games for over two weeks. Having played on Thursday 15th March against Milan, the team next play on April Fools’ Day, at home to a stuttering Stoke.
On Saturday, I was aware that two FA Cup quarter finals would be played either side of the Premier League 3pm matches. I didn’t pay a lot of attention to Spurs’ win at Swansea. Mauricio Pochettino’s players seemed to make easy work of the Welsh side. They will have a theoretical home advantage in the semi-final (and final should they progress past Manchester United), even though technically drawn away for the tie (which just means a different dressing room from normal for them). Arsenal fans who wish to numb the potential pain of a very possible Spurs cup win might even consider backing them to win the trophy at 10bet.com, after all, emotion should never be a factor in your gambling. It’s a wager you could quite easily live with losing, although due to the draw, Chelsea are the current favourites to win the trophy.
I made plans to tune in to watch the Man Utd v Brighton quarter final around 5.30, only to find out that Liverpool were facing Watford in the Premier League in that time slot. United’s game kicked off at 7.45pm. A Saturday game kicking off after 7.30 is something I think I have only previously seen in lower divisions, foreign leagues, the Champions League final or in international football.
Yet, it is a sign of how matches are gradually being spread over more and more time slots to accommodate television. In Spain and Italy, they have matches from Friday evening through to Monday evening (and Friday fixtures are beginning to creep into the English game more and more), but what really sticks out is that they will habitually kick off matches at noon (and on occasion even earlier) in those territories so as to have a distinct time slot for every individual fixture – with every game being available to watch live on television.
So in Spain, when the teams return from the international break (precluding a Friday evening match), they will play four games on Saturday – kicking off at 1pm, 4.15, 6.30 and 8.45. Then on Sunday there are five fixtures (although due to the loss of the Friday evening match, two of them must kick off at the same time). These matches start at 12 noon, 4.15, 6.30 (two games) and 8.45. And a Monday night fixture finishes it off. There was a time when every weekend match would kick off at the same time on a Sunday afternoon, post-siesta. Then again, the same applied to Saturday 3pm matches in England.
It’s a creeping phenomenon that will surely become more established in the Premier League. TV is king. Already for the top six clubs, Saturday 3pm matches are something they experience maybe five or six times a season. The Europa League is partly to blame, but off the top of my head, I think Arsenal have played only three Saturday 3pm games this season, all at home. Of the rescheduled Sunday games, one or two might have not been shown live on TV.
Already we have seen four televised matches played on Sundays at different kick off times. With ten games per weekend, how long before we have Friday and Monday night matches every round of fixtures, followed by 12.30, 3pm, 5.30 and 7.45 matches on both Saturday and Sunday? I’d give it about five years. Crowds will suffer (which should at least lead to reduced pricing) but the TV income will more than compensate. Football sure isn’t what it used to be…